He nodded. “Yeah, he’s let us pursue our own dreams. Obviously, Brock and Ty are helping to run the ranch now, but I’m pretty sure if Ty hadn’t gotten hurt, or Brock hadn’t met Lincoln, they’d still be bull riding for a few more years.”
Tanner stopped in front of a home décor store and looked up at the sign. It was clear his mind was drifting somewhere else.
“What about you, Tanner? When will you work on the ranch? What’s your dream besides roping?”
He simply smiled and then motioned for me to walk into the store without answering my question.
Chapter Eleven
TANNER
Six stores later and I had a plethora of bags in my arms. It appeared that Timberlynn also had some more shopping of her own to do.
“I hate shopping,” I grumbled as we walked into the seventh store.
With a light pat on my chest, Timberlynn winked at me. “It was your idea. I saw a scarf in here earlier with Lincoln and Kaylee that I think your mother would love!”
“From me or you? You’ve already bought her three things to my one.”
She giggled, and a shock of lust raced through my body at the simple sound of it. The more time I spent getting to know Timberlynn, the more I fell for her. And the more I ached to be inside her. I had never been so attracted to a woman before. Why in the hell that didn’t spook me was something I didn’t understand, but also something I didn’t care to worry much about.
“This present is from you,” Timberlynn said. “I think your mom will love it.”
“Why does she need another scarf? She probably has fifty of them.”
“Not that kind of scarf, Tanner. This kind. It’s silk and stunning!”
I frowned as I looked down at the dainty, light-blue scarf. “You think she’ll like it?”
Timberlynn nodded. “Trust me. Timberlynn is wise. Timberlynn knows all.”
She smiled, and my knees trembled. I decided to finally say what I was thinking.
“Does Timberlynn have any idea how much I want to kiss her right now?” The words flowed out of my mouth effortlessly.
Her cheeks went pink with a light flush, and I fucking loved it. “You are a shameful flirt, Tanner Shaw.”
“I don’t disagree with you, but I did mean it. I want to kiss you.”
Timberlynn bit into her lower lip and then shook her head shyly before she turned and headed across the store to look at something else. I released the breath I was holding and looked around. As soon as I did, I groaned. Lindsey Johnson stood near the counter with two of her friends. One look at me and she seemed to come to life. She started my way, and I couldn’t help but glance over at Timberlynn. When I looked back at the approaching Lindsey, I saw that she had caught my quick glance. She frowned, her brows pulling slightly, but then quickly wiped the expression from her face. When our eyes met, she smiled widely.
“Fancy meeting you here, cowboy. Wasn’t thinking you would be back into town for another few days.”
I took a step back from her, crossing my arms over my chest. The last thing I wanted was to give her any wrong impressions. “Well, I’m back. Chance and I decided to take a longer holiday break this year.”
“That’s great. I haven’t seen either of you in town, though…been hiding?”
“Something like that,” I replied. Even I heard how clipped my voice was.
She forced a smile. “There’s a party tonight at the Blue Moose.”
“What for?”
“Jeremy and Kimmy are engaged and celebrating. I know Jeremy would love to see you. If he knew you were in town, he’d have invited you for sure.”
I nodded. “I guess it’s no surprise they’re finally getting married.”
Lindsey laughed, a little too loudly. It was obvious she wanted Timberlynn to see us talking. “Dating since freshman year of high school. It’s about time he popped the question. So, what do you say? You want to go?”
That was Lindsey’s way of asking me if I wanted to go with her, meaning we would probably end the night back at her place for a quick fuck. At least that was her plan, not mine.
“Maybe I’ll show up. I’m not sure if my folks have anything planned.” I purposely looked over to Timberlynn, then back to Lindsey. Her eyes followed mine. Timberlynn stood there, a beautiful smile on her face as she spoke with a sales associate. It felt like my heart may have jumped slightly when she laughed at something that the associate said.
Lindsey frowned. “Is there something going on there, Tanner? You seemed to be into her at Ty’s wedding, and now she’s back in town for what?”
“Christmas with her cousin Kaylee. Plus, she’s thinking of moving here.”
“Moving here!” Lindsey nearly shouted. I glanced at Timberlynn to see her still talking to the sales associate, so she hadn’t heard Lindsey…hopefully. Or maybe she was pretending not to hear.
“Yes. It’s a free country, and people are allowed to move to Montana.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t like it. There’s something off about her.”
I looked once more at the only stunningly beautiful woman in the whole damn store. She turned her head and caught me staring at her. I watched as she recognized Lindsey, a slight frown forming between her brows. When she looked back at me, she smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I returned it, adding a wink that made her cheeks go slightly pink as she shook her head and turned to look at something on a shelf.
“Holy shit. You can’t be serious,” Lindsey hissed.
I kept my gaze on Timberlynn a moment longer before I focused back on Lindsey and sighed.
She let out a forced, uninterested laugh. “You like her, Tanner? Tell me this is just a fling.”
I glared at Lindsey, though she was too busy giving Timberlynn the evil eye to notice. “We’re friends, Lindsey, so I would appreciate
